Workman&#39;s saddle belt



Patented Sept. 20, 1927.

UNITED STATESl CARL Gr. THURNAU, OF NEW HARTFORD, yNEW YORK.

WORKMANS SADDLE BELT.

Application led January My present invention relates to workmens saddlebelts meaning thereby' saddle and belt--likedevces whereby workmen aresuspended at the end of a rope. The purpose of my invention is toprovide a new and improved saddle belt and one which is capable of beingsafely and conveniently used by many classes of workmen.

' Heretofore workmen have been suspended in dangerous places bybeingsimply seated upon a board or chair seat attached to the supportingrope. Such devices were unsafe as they required the man to keep fairlybalanced in the swing or chair seat and required the constant use of onehand to keep him from sliding or falling from-the seat. Such devicesfurthermore were very inefficient as far as the amount of work thatcould be done by workmen was concerned in that the man had to hang ontothe supporting rope with one hand and so had only one hand to workwith. The attempt to use even temporarily the second hand in the realwork might readilyresult in injury or fatal accident to the workman.

The purpose of my invention is to provide a saddle belt which entirelyobviates the dangers above mentioned and enables the workman to havethefree and` unrestricted use of both hands and furthermore even allowshim to fairly use his body in the work or to lean backward or to eitherside without possibility of danger.

A further purpose of my invention is to provide a saddle belt whichnormally supports the person in a sitting position comfortably andwithout strain, but which saddle belt is of such construction that theworkman may safely and comfortably lean back or to either side as hewishes.

A further purpose is to provide a device f of the character describedwhich can be The main supporting ring 5 is preferably S, 1926. SerialN0. 79,955.

formed as indicated in the drawing with three upwardly projectingseparate eyes namely eye 8 at the center and eye 9 at the right and eye10 at the left as the ring is seen from the front in Fig. 1. It will beunderstood that the ring and its three eyes are conveniently made from asingle piece of strong iron providing a very rigid ring and a group ofsupporting eyes. One or more ofthe eyes may be attached to the hook oflthe block through which the suspending vrope or cable passes or therope may be fastened direct to one or more of the eyes. The plurality ofeyes is aconvenient arrangement when ask often happens the workman issuspended from the lower end of two ropes which are separately adjustedas when a painter is working upon a diagonally arranged brace of abridge or gas tank. The extra eyes also enable the'workmanto safelychange from one suspending rope to another by hooking on to the newvrope kbefore he disconnects from the old rope. he belt 6 is made offlexible material preferably leather and has its opposite endsdetachably secured to the opposite sides vof ring 5. lSuch detachableconnection is pref'- erably effected by means of strong hooks 11 havingltheir hook openings normally closed by spring tension keepers 12. Thebase or strapends of these hooks are forked or provided with two spacedears 13 connected near their ends by a strong rivet or bolt 14.

An end of the belt is led through -the opening between the shank of therivet 14 and the opposing base of the hook and then bent back upon thebody of the belt and strongly sewed or riveted thereto. In this way thehook as a unit can freely swing upon its end of the beltl enabling theworkman to readily attach or detach the hook to or from the ring 5.

Preferably as shown in the drawing the central portion of the belt willbe made much wider thanits ends in order to more comfortably support theback of the workman and also to prevent any tendency of the belt to turnover or become twisted.

Depending from the belt there may be i carrying tools or material forthe workman.

Each of the twol leg-supporting straps 7 preferably has its inner endsecured to the ring 5 by means of a common shackle 17. This is loosely,that is swingingly, but permanently mounted upon the ring with the saidinner ends of the straps 7 going about the pin 18 of the shackle 17 andcomingl below said shackle pin where the different layers of leather aresecurely fastened as by stitching.

The other ends of these straps 7, that is the outer ends, are looselythat is swingingly,'but detachably connected to the ring 5 preferably byhooks 20 having spring keepers 21 and forked bases composed of spacedears 22 connected by pins 23 all as described in connection with thebelt hooks 11 and similar parts thereof. Through the space between thepin 23, the ears 22 and the base of the hook 2O is led the extremity ofone of the straps 7 with said extremity bent back upon the adjacentportion of the belt and securely fastened thereto as by a series ofstitches or rivets or both.

It will be understood that the loop of leather at the outer end of theleg strap 7 encircling the pin 23 of the hook 2O is larger in insidediameter than the pin and is a little narrower in width than the spacebetween the ears 22 so that the hooks can be very readily swung about onthe straps enabling the workman to readily attach or detach said hookand generally providing a free joint at either point for freedom ofmotion in various ways. In the same way the inner ends of the leg strapsare mounted for free movement upon Ithecommon shackle 17 and the hooks11 for free movement upon the opposite ends of the belt.

Preferably about the middle half of each leg strap 7 may be appreciablywidened say to a width twice that of the ends of the straps. This widerportion of the leg strap is the part on the lower half of the leg and soprovides a larger seat as it were for the person using the device. Thesetwo wide straps of say five or six inches at least in width below eachleg in conjunction with the increased width of the belt provide a verycomfortable and convenient seat for the workman when he is suspended inmidair on with one'of these devices. As the belt and leg straps are notdirectly attached to each other it will be seen that the user of thedevice can lean to one side or the other to almost a horizontal positionand still be well supported in the device. Also it will be seen that theuser can leanv backward as far as needed to carry on work. In thesedifferent positions and many intermediate ones to which a painter or asimilar workman may move his body the saddle belt here shown supportsthe user so comfortably and so securely that he can do much more work ina day and particularly is free from any nervous strain. I-Ie does nothave to worry for fear that he may inadvertently let go of thesuspending rope and so lose his balance. What I claim as new and-desireto secure by Letters Patent is:

1. In aworkmans saddle beltthe combination of a rigid ring for theattachmentv of a supporting rope, a waist belt detachabl secured to saidring and two legstraps eac adapted to separately pass below and supportone leg between the crotch and the knee, each of said straps having anend swingingly secured to the said ring and its other end detachablysecured to the said ring. 1

2. In a workmans saddle belt the 'combination of a rigid ring having an'upwardly projecting eye thereon for the attachment of a supporting rope,a waist belt detachably secured to said ring and two leg straps eachadapted to separately pass below and support one leg between the crotchand the knee,

each of said straps having an end swingingly secured to the said ringand its other end detachably secured to the said ring.

3. In a workmans saddle -belt the combination of a rigid` ring having aYplurality Aof upwardly projecting eyes thereon for the attachm-ent of asupporting rope,roneof said eyes being located laterally of the othereye,

a waist belt detachably secured to said ring and two leg straps eachadapted to separately pass below and support one leg between the crotchand the knee, each of .said straps havingvan end swingingly securedtothe said ring and its other end-detachably secured to the said ring.

4l. In a workmans saddle belt the combination of a rigid 'ring for theattachment of a supporting rope, ajvaist belt having its opposite endsdetachably secured to said ring and two leg straps each adapted toseparately pass below and support one legbetween the crotch and theknee, each of said straps having an end swingingly secured to the saidring and'its other `end detachably secured to the said ring.

In witness whereof I have vaffixed Amy signature, this 18th day of May,1925.

CARL G. THURNAU.

